RMAF 2008 - Your impressions,...

A very good point about "getting to know" the reviewer (professional of A'gon). I clearly like soft dome tweeters (Merlin, Harbeth, Wilson Benesch ,etc)and two-way speakers. I too experience rooms that make my ears bleed and that others find wonderful - so to state the obvious, there is no best, and you need to know where and from whom opnions are coming from. I enjoyed almost no "cost no object" rooms (I di like the Verity room - if that counts) and I think I'm inherently turned off by large speakers and speakers with many drivers. Obviously there a sound out there to suit every taste, and it takes a few years to know what you like - shows like this help a lot. Plus it is fun being surrounded by others with similar "obsessions".

Good luck with the dyi Master Set Drubin. I'll just say, "take your time and don't give up." It took the Sumiko and Soundings guys SIX HOURS to set the Die Musicks. Toward the end, when it was 'almost' perfect, I was amazed at the impact of moving the speaker one spike-width or tilting it from verticle by a degree or two.

Dave

There was no A-B comparison in the Sounds Real Audio room, so you just heard good sound, with the PD pushing through some nice tube amps into Wilson Benesch. I felt like the speakers were way too far into the room, away from the walls, so that most of the sound we heard came from the speakers. They needed more bass support from the room. Still, it was nice sounding and Jim did a nice job of showing them off, getting about 90+% of their potential.

The Soundings room really had the speakers at their full potential. (Guido and I watched them spend six-hours setting the speakers0. Unfortnately Rod occasionally lapsed into playing the soundtrack from "My Cousin Vinny" and a few other sound effects style tracks. When he focused on music it was pure bliss. Also, the big horn system next door kept overpowering that room and coming through the walls and down the hall (the clod kept his door open much of the time). Still, anyone that wanted to could judge the potential for themselves with little or no interpolation.

Despite these occasional problems, the Soundings room was so revealing and musical that everyone immediately recognized a change of CDP player and many people stayed through more than one "set". I never came back to the room when it wasn't SRO.

Dave

Cheif,

DeHavilland, I believe, had the Playback. The very best from digial was the Playback as it sounded very different than all the other CDP.

I brought one CD and played it on 15 different systems and it all sounded the some, like sh=t. Digital sucks big time.

High Water Sound was playing .50 cent records that blew away all the failing digital sources at the show.

Red Wine Audio with their 100% battery powered gear & powered TT was outstanding. It goes to show you that you don't need to spend 30K for a great system and don't need 35 speakers in each cabinet to sound great.

Robyatt Audio was hot with the Garrard 301 and inexpensive tube amps. Vinyl, boys and girls, is where the music is.

EP CS1 was cooking yet had digital for playback. Even so it was rewarding to hear. Much better than the CS2 speaker.

I think digital ruins a show such as RMAF but not so with the Playback. It made me think twice about digital but only for a second. Better than my Lector T3 by a long shot
Has onyone else head this player?

Glory, there's lots of chatter about the PD here on A'gon. You'll be able to find a ton with the search function. I'm just glad to finally get some company in my view of the PD.

Could you name a few of the other CDPs that you listened to?

Dave